PEORIA — The namesake and winner of the first Befus Humanitarianism Award won’t be present when the honor is presented Friday.

Dr. Steven Befus died in 2003 at age 51. But his medical missionary work in the midst of Liberia’s worst civil wars made a lasting impact in the family medicine residency program at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria.

UICOMP officials will present the award to his widow, Sue, during the residency program’s graduation ceremonies at East Peoria Holiday Inn & Suites. The honor includes a $1,000 donation from UnityPoint Health-Methodist Proctor Foundation to the charity of the recipient’s choice.

Befus, his wife, and three children, all under the age of 5, left for Liberia in 1981, soon after he completed the family medicine residency at Methodist. He returned to Peoria periodically, either to raise money or to renew his visa. During those intervals, he taught at UICOMP.

“Befus was a wonderful teacher but he was embarrassed because he hadn’t kept up with the latest medical technology,” said Dr. Thomas Golemon, chairman of UICOMP’s community and family medicine department. “To us, he was a breath of fresh air because he was doing all this work without technology.”

Befus and his wife, a nurse, worked at a small hospital outside the capital city of Monrovia. The medical mission was sponsored by SIM International, formerly Sudan Interior Mission.

Healthcare and healthcare facilities were already woefully inadequate when Befus and his family arrived in the West African country. According to a United Nations report, there were only 400 government-trained doctors in a country of about 4 million.

Golemon said Befus once told him he spent as much time working on generators as he did caring for patients. Sometimes, while he was operating, he had to decide whether to keep lights on or keep medical equipment running.

By the late 1980s, the difficulties intensified. Befus tried to maintain the clinic through a series of civil wars that eventually left more than 200,000 Liberians dead and many more refugees. Though the family evacuated during the worst fighting, Befus always tried to stay, Sue Befus said, and rebuild the war-torn compound.

But in 1996, Befus came close to joining the ranks of Liberian refugees. He and several colleagues managed to escape rebel factions that overtook the compound. They walked 13 miles to the U.S. Embassy, where he was evacuated to the Ivory Coast.

“It was a scary time for all of us,” Golemon said. Members of Befus’ church, Grace Presbyterian, gathered for round-the-clock prayer services until they learned he was safe.

Golemon recalled Befus telling him later, “There’s nothing like coming to a road block manned by 13- and 14-year-olds with semi-automatic weapons.”

Befus died in his wife’s hometown of Akron, Ohio, about two years after he returned to the United States for cancer treatments. He had planned on staying in Peoria while he recuperated, then returning to Liberia, Sue Befus said.

Grace Presbyterian also honored Befus for medical missionary service earlier this year.

Ten residents a year graduate from the UICOMP program. The Befus Humanitarianism Award won’t necessarily be given every year, Golemon said, but it will be awarded to the faculty, staff or resident who best exemplifies Befus’ characteristics.

“I’m hoping this can be a legacy,” Golemon said.

Pam Adams can be reached at 686-3245 or padams@pjstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @padamspam.